Water diversions are constructed to prevent and control water runoff and erosion problems associated with the disturbed area. Water diversions constructed on mine sites must be the same in terms of placement and size as identified in the permit requirements. (VIP 3) Using orthorectified satellite imagery in a GIS, the inspector can determine if water diversions have the correct location, length, and in rare cases, width as specified in the permit.
High-resolution WorldView-2 satellite imagery was analyzed using GIS to calculate the actual length of the water diversion. This technique allows the inspector to measure actual distance on the satellite image without having to go to the mine site and walk the entire diversion to measure the distance.
Water diversion length measurement of 3,179.72 feet at the McKinley Mine site.